S2E25: Don’t Recycle (Mark 2:18-22) PYNwJ 12
Image: Fasci
This is the twin parable of the new wine and old wineskins and the new cloth patch on an old garment. Religious people tend to be critical of any deviation from the way things have traditionally been done. Despite this, Jesus encourages us to not focus on the external appearances or outward manifestations of spirituality, but instead focuses on the quality of the content. Ancient wisdom may take slightly new forms in each age, but nostalgically clinging to old forms without being flexible can lead to ruin both for the content and the form of a spiritual movement. Finally, healthy religious communities do well to let the younger generation grow and expand through the power of bold imagination, without the unnecessary restrictions that come when they are pressured merely to mimic their elders instead of taking ownership of their core ethical and spiritual values. Ultimately, this text is about Jesus warning folks that they are in danger of screwing up the kingdom if they fail to pay attention to the importance of context and timing. That is, failing to understand the unique situation of younger generations can lead to leaders unnecessarily driving them away from the source of freedom Jesus offers.
We mention the following:
Marie Kondo and the KonMari method of tidying up.
Jeff’s piece in the Mukilteo Beacon entitled “The Idiom Gap”.
The song “Saturday Satan, Sunday Saint”.
Each of the written chapters that goes with this twelve part study includes discussion questions. Here are all the questions we include for this chapter.
1. What in your religious or spiritual life do you want to invest more thought and energy into, if anything?
2. What do you want to cut out?
3. What do you want to keep just as it is?
4. Are there movements or ideas you’ve heard about that you find interesting but you’ve not looked into them because your current community has told you to reject them? If so, what motivation might behind your community’s perspective? Does it relate to your interest, theirs, or something else altogether? What might be holding you back from looking further into what those other folks are working toward?
5. If you are an older leader in your community, who might you try to mentor into leadership in the future? Are you able to let them challenge your assumptions within this mentoring relationship, and let them take things in slightly different directions? If so, what is the core value you both share that is not worth compromising?
6. If God himself (or some ultimate authority you trust) told you to get rid of your most cherished physical expressions of your beliefs (e.g., crucifixes, clerical collars, Tibetan prayer flags, frankincense), what would be the hardest to let go of? What is it about this thing that is helpful and important to you? Can you think of any way to translate that object for other people you know today?